Reno, NV 2002

Reno, NV 2002 Introduction

Our trip to Reno started at 5:15a on Saturday, June 15th and ended around 10p on Sunday, June 23rd. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures visiting areas nearby like Lake Tahoe.

Map of Lake Tahoe area

But it seemed no matter where we went, we just couldn't escape Mickey Mouse. (Lichen at Grimes Point Archeological Site.)

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Saturday, 6/15/2002 – Fly to Reno

The cab arrived promptly at 5:15 in the morning - Yeah!

The flight to San Francisco went well; Julie slept and James watched "Monsters Inc." We both felt less than well but ate a little during our 2 1/2 hour layover. We were greatly annoyed that our flight into SFO went to the International Terminal which required us to go out of the secure area and pass through security again to get into the Domestic Terminal. It wasn't too bad for us, but the flight to SFO was late and there were some people who missed connections because of the security check.

The flight to Reno was only 35 minutes of flight time. James had forgotten how turbulent it was flying into Reno over the mountains into the desert. We got to Reno International about 1:45p, passed the slot machines to get our bags, and picked-up the rental car.

James remembered his way around enough to drive straight to the hotel. We stayed at the Atlantis Resort Casino. When we checked in, our room was in the "Motor Lodge." We settled in and rested for a while. About 3p PST (6p EST our stomachs' time), we agreed to go get something to eat. In order to show Julie the area where James used to live, we drove to Sparks and ate at the A&W. Not much had changed, though it looked like they were drilling for oil in the High School parking lot across the street. We then drove to the house James lived in. It was then time to do some shopping. We went to the mall, walked around awhile, and then returned to the hotel, having gotten a jump on our stocking stuffer shopping. Both of us fell asleep watching the Busch Grand National Series race. We woke again about 7p and walked around the hotel to find out where all of the different amenities were located. We returned to our room a little before 9p and fell asleep around 10p. It had been a long, tiring day.




Sunday, 6/16/2002 – Watch race and go to Fallon/Grimes Point

Still being somewhat on Eastern Time, we got up around 7a and went to eat around 8a. The buffet didn't open until 9a for Sunday Brunch, so we got some pastries from the pastry shop in the casino. After eating and trying our luck, we returned to our room to watch the Winston Cup Race at Michigan. The race started about 9:30a so we had time to look through our travel planning books and set a general plan for the week's activities. This is the first race in quite a while we didn't partially nap through.

The race ended about 1:30p so we grabbed a bite to eat and headed East on I-80 out of Reno. We exited onto Alternate Highway 50 heading South towards Fallon, NV and the Grimes Point Archeological Site. We went on a short hike on an interpretive trail looking at ancient Indian rock markings (images 1-2).

We then continued our drive east on Highway 50 to Sand Mountain (image 3). We stopped here to look at the natural formation generated by windblown sand dropped as the wind heads into the next mountain range. It is basically a 300 foot high sand drift. People take their ATV's and their dirt bikes out to ride around on the side of the mountain.

We stayed on US Highway 50 heading west through Fallon and into Carson City. There, we turned North on State Road 395 returning to Reno. Despite Julie's repeated questioning, James did know where he was going and we did not get lost.

After a short rest and a break to call our Dads for Father's Day, we drove North on Virginia Street through downtown to look at the lights. We headed West through the foothills and circled that side of town before returning to the hotel about 9p. We decided we both had problems with allergies after the flights to Reno; the higher altitudes did not help much either.



Monday, 6/17/2002 – Ponderosa and Emerald Bay

We got up about 6:30a and left the hotel about 7:20a. We headed up the Mount Rose Highway (431) to the North end of Lake Tahoe. It is a winding road and there is not much between you and a fairly steep drop but a guardrail (sometimes). This was Julie's first experience with two-lane mountain roads in her adult life and she decided that she was not overly comfortable on them.

Once we dropped into the Tahoe valley, we headed East to the Ponderosa Ranch. They have a hayride breakfast if you arrive early enough; we did. The food is okay, but the views are spectacular (image 1). The breakfast is quite a way up the side of the hills and the view of the lake is incredible. After eating, there is a walking trail back down to the main exhibits. The attraction is based on the TV show Bonanza and is located about where the ranch house is indicated on the burning map at the beginning of each episode. We spent a couple of hours looking at the various displays and shows.

We then continued around the Northeast corner and headed South on the Nevada side of the lake. Most of the NV side is in a National Forest so the only stopping we did was where they were doing road work. We ended up on Highway 50 again which winds around the South end of the lake. We stopped in South Lake Tahoe, California for lunch. After lunch, we continued our drive and headed up CA State Road 89 to Emerald Bay. This portion of the drive thoroughly convinced Julie that she did not like two-lane mountain roads. There are portions with 10 mph curves, 20 ft wide roads with no shoulder or guardrail, and steep slopes on either side.

We stopped at Emerald Bay and hiked a mile down to the level of the lake (image 2). Note: that is a mile in hiking distance, not in elevation change; however, it was long enough that we knew the hike back to the parking area was going to hurt. There is a "castle" at the lake level at the end of the bay. It is called Vikingsholm and was built in 1929 by a woman who owned part of National Biscuit (Nabisco) and other companies (image 3). We went on a tour of the home and our guide actually spent her summers as a little girl at the home. Her family had been friends of the woman who built it. She was featured in a TV special about the house. After the tour, we hiked up a trail behind the house to a waterfall before heading back up the hill to the parking lot.

We returned to the hotel tired, dirty, and a little sore from the day's activities. We ate dinner at the hotel buffet. After dinner, we headed to the casino with a whole $5 each; we left up $1.50 including the little we tried on Sunday morning.



Tuesday, 6/18/2002 – Virginia City and Bowers Mansion

Tuesday started a little later. We got up and ready to go in time for the breakfast buffet at 8:30a. After eating, we headed up the hills to the Southeast of Reno to Virginia City. Along the way, Julie's opinion of mountain roads was strengthened.

We arrived in Virginia City and walked up and down C Street looking at all the tourist trap shops (image 1). There is a train ride you can take that runs part of the way down the tracks used to haul the gold and silver that used to be mined in the VA City area down to Carson City for processing. It is a very pretty ride and the conductor gives a narration about the various mines you can see on the adjacent hillsides (image 2).

When we returned to VA City, we visited a mansion that was built by George Hearst; father of William Randolph Hearst. The family's money was first made in the silver mines of Northern Nevada. The house was later the primary residence of the Mackay family; one of the richest in the Comstock. The mining school at University of Nevada Reno is named for the Mackay family. We then ate lunch and headed South back down towards Carson City (image 3).

We stopped at the Bower's Mansion in the Washoe Lake Valley, about halfway between Reno and Carson City. This house was built by the first family to become millionaires from mining operations in NV. It is a beautiful home that is now maintained by the state.

We then returned to Reno and decided to see a movie. We saw "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." It was a good film. After the movie, we returned to the hotel to plan Wednesday's activities.



Wednesday, 6/19/2002 – Hiking, National Automobile Museum and Downtown Reno

We slept in on Wednesday not leaving the hotel until 9a. We fortified ourselves with an IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) breakfast and headed to Davis Creek Park near the Bower's Mansion. There we went on a hike for almost two hours. The trail went up the foothills and overlooked the Washoe Lake Valley (image). We could have hiked the 6 miles up to the Tahoe Rim Trail that goes all the way around the lake, but we decided that would be a little much.

After the hike, we returned to Reno and downtown to the National Automobile Museum. The majority of the collection was owned by the man who started Harrah's Resorts and Casinos. There are a lot of cars from before the 1950s and information about all the different companies who tried to manufacture automobiles. We spent a couple of hours looking around at the four different galleries.

After the museum, we ate lunch at the Planet Hollywood and walked around downtown looking at various souvenir shops. We also walked through the now connected Circus Circus, Silver Legacy, and El Dorado Casinos.

We returned to our room and rested until around 7p. We then drove to K-Mart, Target, and Wal-Mart in search of shirts with Reno or Lake Tahoe on them. We didn't find any so the search for souvenirs would continue.

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Thursday 6/20/2002 – Shopping for Treasures

We rose about 8a and got to the breakfast buffet around 9a. After eating, we headed back to South Lake Tahoe for shirts. Julie felt much more comfortable going up the Highway 50 Route (all four lane road). It took us about 90 minutes to get to the first shops we had seen advertisements for. We had picked up a book as we passed through that had some ads in it. After the first shops produced nothing but chocolate band-aids, we went back towards the Nevada Stateline to a small shopping plaza. We hit the jackpot here when we found a store that was having a store-wide sale. They had nice embroidered button-down shirts as well as a couple of others we both liked. Across the street from the shopping center was one end of a string of small touristy shops strung along Highway 50. We walked down the road stopping in each to see if there was anything else we would want. We didn't see anything, but ended up at Harrah's Lake Tahoe for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe.

After lunch, about 2p, we returned to the car and headed to Spooner Lake, a small lake a little East of Tahoe, but still in the mountains. We had planned on hiking a small trail there, but by the time we arrived, neither of us felt very well and we decided to return to the hotel. We both dozed off once we got back to the room and ended up heading to a small restaurant around 8:30p for a light supper. It was then back to the room where we watched the news before going to bed.



Friday, 6/21/2002 – Animal Ark, "Lilo & Stitch," and dinner

Happy 5th Anniversary

We reluctantly extracted ourselves from the covers about 8a. After preparing ourselves to appear in public, we headed North on Highway 395 looking for someplace to stop for breakfast. After getting some McDonald's at a Wal-Mart on the North side of town, we headed further North to visit an animal park called "The Animal Ark." The facility houses various animals that have been conditioned to be cared for by humans and can not be returned to the wild. They are not classified as a zoo and they do not have or participate in any breeding programs. There were several large cats, so James took lots of pictures (images 1-3). The drive to the facility was quite a picturesque one through the Nevada hills North of Stead.

We returned to Reno in time to catch the 1:25p show of Disney's "Lilo & Stitch." We both enjoyed the show immensely; and neither of us felt the hype was over done. After the movie, we returned to the hotel to rest a little before our dinner reservations.

We had dinner at the Steakhouse at the Peppermill. This was the first time we did not have our anniversary dinner at one of the restaurants on Disney property. The food and the service were excellent. After dinner, we returned to the hotel to relax and watch the ABC special about "Lilo & Stitch."



Saturday, 6/22/2002 – I-80 Drive and Rodeo

We got up early and met a friend of James' family for breakfast. We headed to Sparks to meet Gene McClelland at Jack's Coffee Shop where James' parents often met the McClellands for Saturday Breakfast (image 1). We enjoyed good conversation while eating a hearty breakfast. Gene also gave us two tickets for the Reno Rodeo opening night events Saturday evening.

After breakfast, we drove around Sparks looking at some of the other places James remembered from his time living there. We drove by the church they attended as well as the butcher shop they shopped at. (A butcher shop being important to James, imagine that.) We then got on I-80 West and headed up into the mountains. We drove for about an hour to Donner Lake and the Donner Summit. This is the highest point along I-80 in the Sierra Range. We stopped at one of the ski resorts and took pictures of each other standing next to a lingering pile of snow (images 2-3).

We then returned to Reno, went to the mall for lunch and to pick up the "Lilo and Stitch" pins that were going on sale at the Disney Store, and for some last minute gift shopping. We then returned to the hotel and ended up spending the afternoon lounging and getting things together for our trip home.

About 5p we headed to the Reno Animal Events Center for the Rodeo. We got there in plenty of time, the show didn't start until 7p, and spent time walking around looking at the different exhibits and booths. James even bought a new pair of boots he could wear to work. We got to our seats about 6:45p and really enjoyed the two and half hour show more than either of us expected to. The competitions included bare-back bronco riding, saddle-bronco riding (image 4), double mugging (from Hawaii), bull riding, calf roping, team roping, barrel racing, and our favorite, mutton busting. The mutton busting was a crowd favorite as a group of 5-7 year olds in bike helmets did their best to cling to sheep as they were released from small stalls similar to the ones used for the bronco and bull riding. The sheep would take off out of the chutes and run all over the arena floor. After the show, we returned to our hotel for our last night in Reno.



Sunday, 6/23/2002 – Fly back home

Our flight didn't leave Reno until just before noon, so we slept in. We got up, got ready and made sure we had everything packed. We loaded up the car and checked out of the hotel about 9a. We went to Denny's for breakfast and then turned the rental car in about 10a. While we were at Denny's, we overheard another table where a young couple had just gotten married and their family was taking them to the airport for their honeymoon. They were headed to Florida via Denver and their flight left Reno just before noon. Denny's is apparently a popular place for people in Reno bound for Florida.

Our flight from Reno left on time and was fairly smooth once we got out over the Nevada desert. We were a little rushed in Denver getting between gates, but ended up making it in plenty of time. We did not get a meal on the flight from Reno to Denver even though we were in the air during the noon hour, but we could understand since it was a short flight. We didn't eat anything in Denver because James wasn't feeling very well. Our flight from Denver left around 2p. The honeymooners were two rows in front of us. It annoyed us that we didn't get a meal on this flight though since were in the air from 2p until 9p local times and the flight was plenty long enough for them to distribute and pickup meals.

We got back to Orlando, got our bags, and caught a cab back to the house. James went and got McDonalds while Julie called her folks to let them know we had arrived home safely. Shadow was happy to see us, mostly because she would get fed three times a day now, instead of two. It had also rained pretty much every day we were gone so the grass was really tall and would have another week to grow before James would have time to cut it (images 1-2). We had a fun time in Reno and looked forward to our next trip.